


Amazing Grace

by kireinatenshi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, M/M, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 16:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1476949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireinatenshi/pseuds/kireinatenshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lev is running from something, and Eren doesn't know what. All either of them know is that Levi is broken and there's a possibility that no one will be able to piece him back together again. Everyone wants to help him, but only one person can be his saving grace. Will that person be Eren? How can he possibly help Levi when he doesn't even know what hurt him in the first place?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, yes, hello, this is my first Shingeki no Kyojin fanfic and my first fanfic on Archive of Our Own. I offer you my sincere thanks for deciding to read this work! 
> 
> Fun fact: this fic was inspired by a tumblr text post that I saw well over a year ago that read something along the lines of "Why are there so many coffee shop AUs? We need more random diner at 1 in the morning AUs." So here we are! 
> 
> If you have any questions or you want to discuss anything, feel free to contact me on tumblr (marcobodtsvevo) or on Twitter (@charlotte_1nez). 
> 
> All right, thank you again, and I hope that you enjoy!

In retrospect, Levi realized, he really should have had some idea of where he was going before he ran. 

Oh, well. Hindsight is 20-20, after all.

He was driving down the interstate at a solid 75 miles per hour, the white lane lines flying beneath his wheels like the so many fleeting memories that he was trying his best to leave behind. All he knew was that he was going somewhere--he was going away--and there was absolutely no way that he could return to where he had come from. The hour was late. Or rather, at this point, early. It was 1:00 a.m. Vaguely, it occurred to Levi that he had been cruising down the same interstate for six hours, completely without stopping. Other thoughts pressed at the back of his mind, clamoring for his consideration, but he shut them down. No thinking right now. Only running.

Except that he had to think. He hadn’t eaten at all that day and the biting hunger in his stomach was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Plus, he was still aching, throbbing, and stinging all over. The metallic taste of blood had been on his tongue for hours on end. No matter how much he swallowed at nothing, he couldn’t seem to get rid of it. He was almost used to it, at this point, he thought, or at the very least he should have been. He’d tasted it regularly for the past seven years, after all. The words inside his head dripped with acidic irony. 

Thoughts began to clamor harder at the back of his mind, and he made a spur of the moment decision to try and silence them. Veering dangerously across empty lanes of traffic, he exited the highway, forgetting to slow down until he reached the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp. For some reason, the panic stop that he reached at the stop sign that appeared out of nowhere in the darkness nearly tore him apart at the seams. Breathing heavily, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against the wheel. He stayed that way for a few minutes, gasping for air, but soon forced himself to straighten up and continue driving. The town that he had apparently arrived in entirely by accident was not small, but it wasn’t large either. It was probably one of those in-between things that technically met the quota of people to be considered a city but which everyone in and around it still considered to be a town. The buildings that surrounded the street he was making his way down were mostly dark, and even if they did have their lights on, most of them were closed. Figures, he thought, dully. It was one in the morning, after all. He had no clear idea of where he was heading or what he intended to do now that he was off of the highway until his gaze happened to wander upon the sole open establishment that he’d seen on the street. It was a diner, he realized. The building was small and flat, and it looked odd in the middle of the wide expanse of deserted parking lot that surrounded it. He would have assumed that it was closed like everything else if it hadn’t had a flashy, attractive neon sign that read “Open 24 Hours” beneath its primary sign and the fact that its brightly lit interior spilled a glow out onto the pavement outside. Without really thinking about it, Levi jerked the wheel hard to turn into the parking lot. He was hungry as hell, anyways. He might as well.  
After parking the car, Levi got out and stretched his arms over his head, wincing at the way that every joint in his body seemed to crack. The noise of bones popping was disgusting to him, but he had no choice--he’d just been driving for six hours, after all. After he had properly realigned himself, he walked up the stairs and entered the diner. As expected, the place was completely deserted. Well, except for one person--apparently the only employee in the place. The employee was working across the room, behind a counter, and he hadn’t noticed Levi yet. After a few seconds, he looked up, and their eyes met.

In that moment, Levi was caught breathless. The boy was gorgeous--tall, with skin the color of dark caramel and thick (although short) dark hair--but that wasn’t what really attracted Levi’s attention. It was the boy’s eyes. They were positively electrifying. That was the only word that he could think of to describe the dynamic, energetic, and undeniably beautiful bluish green color of the unknown employee’s eyes. 

Realizing that he was staring, Levi coughed and looked away. It wasn’t until a few moments after this that he realized that the employee was staring at him, too. Briefly, Levi wondered why, because he didn’t think there was anything particularly captivating about himself. Was it his height? He wouldn’t be surprised. But then, he remembered--he’d left the city that had previously been his home, New York City, with a split lip, a dark, nasty black eye, and numerous other bruises around his face and neck. He was sure that there were more bruises where they couldn’t be seen, concealed beneath the fabric of his clothing. Anything that his mood had gained--and he hated to admit it, but he had been slightly uplifted by staring into the depths of the employee’s eyes--was immediately lost, and he returned to the depths of an emotional pit that he was sure he would never be able to haul himself out of.

Still, feeling sorry for himself wasn’t going to fill his stomach. Grimly, he shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way across the diner to sit at the counter that the young employee was working behind. 

“Good morning,” the boy said, as he sat down. Levi didn’t meet his eyes, he didn’t want to see what he knew he would find if he looked up at the employee again. He could hear it in his voice--that sort of awkward sense of half-sympathy. He was wondering what was wrong with Levi’s face, and whom had done it to him. He was wondering what Levi was doing in this diner at one in the morning with a split lip and a black eye. Well, he was out of luck, because Levi didn’t feel like answering his unasked and silently oppressive questions. 

“Morning,” Levi replied, roughly. His voice was raspy from lack of use. 

“What can I get you?” he asked. Finally, Levi was obligated to look up at him. It wasn’t half bad, really, considering that he got to look into the employee’s beautiful eyes again. 

“Coffee,” he said. “And, ah...an omelette with ham and cheese.” 

“Certainly,” the employee replied. Levi sat at the counter in silence, watching out of the corner of his eye as the boy disappeared into the kitchen to give his order to the chef and then returned to prepare Levi’s cup of coffee. After he had given Levi the cup, he retreated a few feet down the counter and began to polish some glasses that had just been through the dishwasher. As he sipped his drink, Levi could tell that the employee was still looking at him, subtly gazing at him and wondering what had happened to him and what he was doing there. Levi could feel hot shame crawling up the back of his neck. He didn’t want this handsome young man to wonder about him and think up stories to explain away his broken face. Even more than that, he didn’t want the handsome young man to know the truth. 

Quickly, he found something to say, to fill the silence of the room, because he could feel the questions brewing on the edges of the employee’s tongue and the last thing that he wanted to do was answer them. 

“Eren,” he said, reading the boy’s name off of his name tag. “Isn’t that a girl’s name?” 

“No,” said the boy--apparently named Eren. As he looked up at Levi, his pretty eyes flashed with annoyance. Levi suspected this mistake with his name was something that happened often. “Eren, not Erin. It’s Turkish.” 

“Is it?” said Levi, drily, arching one of his eyebrows. He could see that the young man would be easily manipulated to anger. 

“Yeah,” he said, his tone laced with defensiveness. He looked back down at the glass that he was polishing, his thick eyebrows drawn together with annoyance. Good. He was too busy being annoyed with Levi to wonder who he was anymore. Levi smirked and was about to turn back to his coffee when he saw Eren look up at him again. He was drawn to those eyes like a magnet, and he met the boy’s gaze.

“What’s your name?” he asked. He still sounded slightly hostile. Cute, Levi thought. He probably got into lots of innocent little fights at school. 

“Levi,” he said. 

“Levi?” he repeated, with a smirk. “Like--” 

“Yes, like the jeans or the Biblical figure,” said Levi. “Don’t ask me why my mother chose that name, because I don’t know.” 

Eren rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you charming,” he said. 

“Kid, it’s one in the morning,” said Levi. 

His eyes flashed again. Levi was almost enjoying himself. “Don’t call me--” 

At that moment, the cook shouted at Eren that the omelette was done, and with a huff, he put down his glass and went to retrieve it. Once he had returned, he set it down in front of Levi and crossed his arms. “You’re going to get me fired,” Eren told him. “I keep getting in trouble with my boss for getting angry at customers.” 

“Is that my problem?” asked Levi, raising an eyebrow at Eren as he began to eat his omelette. 

“Well, no,” he said. “But obviously, it’s a problem for you, with those bruises you’ve got--”

Levi’s fork clattered to the countertop as a sudden cold feeling gripped him from all sides. Problem. Problem for him. His blunt personality was a problem for him because--why? Because it landed him with these bruises on his face? Was that why it had happened--was that why he’d done it, for all of those years, because Levi’s personality had been too much for him?

As his imagination took greater leaps and drew more unreasonable conclusions, Levi recognized what he was doing and reined himself in. He was leaving those memories behind, he reminded himself, running a hand through his hair. Then he nearly jumped through the ceiling as he felt a hand gripping his shoulder. 

“Hey,” said Eren, leaning in close. “Hey, did you hear me? I said, are you all right? Did I say something?” His voice, which had previously been so full of anger and accusation, was suddenly concerned. Even so, Levi jerked his shoulder out of Eren’s grasp. 

“No, I’m fine,” he said, roughly. He didn’t look up to meet Eren’s electrifying blue eyes, because he knew that he would be looking into pools of pity and worry, and he didn’t want to see that. He’d seen so many pitying expressions in his lifetime, and in that moment, he felt that if he saw one more, he would throw up. 

“Listen,” said, Eren. Levi still didn’t look up at him. “Are you okay?” he continued. “Like, really okay, I mean. Are you in any sort of trouble, or--” 

“No,” Levi snapped, aggressively. 

“Are you running from anything? Because--”

“No!” Levi shouted, jumping to his feet. He stood with his feet planted widely apart, gazing into Eren’s eyes with his eyebrows drawn together in an angry, frustrated expression. His chest heaved as the two of them stared into each other’s eyes. Eren knew he was lying, that much was obvious, so much so that a part of Levi wondered if he should even bother continuing to do so. 

Silence stretched out between the two of them. In the kitchen, Levi heard the chef rattling pots and pans, unaware of what was happening on the outside. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Eren spoke. “Look, don’t run, okay? If you need a place to stay, I’ve got an extra bed at my place.” 

Levi was silent for a moment. His first inclination was to say no. No, I don’t need your help, I don’t need your charity, and most of all I don’t need your pity. But then he reconsidered. It was late. He’d been driving for six hours. Technically, he had nowhere to go. What decent hotel could he find in this small city-town at this hour? 

“Just for the night?” he hedged, cautiously. 

Eren nodded, vehemently. That was something that Levi was beginning to notice about the boy--everything that he did, he did with energy and intention. “Yeah. Yeah, whatever you want.” 

Levi ran a hand through his hair. His mind felt like it was full of hundreds of thousands of insects, all of them bumping into each other and making an unholy racket to inhibit his thinking. Fuck it, he didn’t have time for this. He was tired. He was hungry. He had nowhere to go. Why not stay in the cutie’s spare bedroom for the night? 

“All right,” he said. “I’ll go with you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for your kudos and comments on the first chapter of this fic. They were very kind and encouraging for me while I was writing the second chapter. This one is from Eren's point of view. For the most part, if I want to switch points of view, it will be clearly focused on one character. Later, there will be a few chapters that switch halfway through, but I'll be sure to indicate that clearly to reduce confusion. 
> 
> Once again, if you have any questions or comments or critiques, feel free to leave comments here or contact me on tumblr (marcobodtsvevo) or twitter (@charlotte_1nez). 
> 
> Enjoy!

At this point, the only thing that Eren knew was one hundred percent true was that it was a good thing that he didn’t have class that day. In spite of the fact that he’d worked the late shift and he and the small, bruised man with the deep eyes had gotten home to his apartment at around 3 a.m., he hadn’t been able to sleep for an extended period of time. And so here he was, at 8 a.m., pacing around his own home like a caged animal. His mind was burning with unanswered questions about the diminutive young--old? He could hardly tell--man that had come to the diner during his shift and was now sleeping in what was technically Mikasa’s bed. Who the hell was he, anyways? Why was his face covered in bruises? Was he some kind of criminal? Oh, god, what if he was a drug dealer, or a murderer? Had he gotten into some kind of legal trouble? Was that why he was running? Eren couldn’t afford to get that kind of attention from the authorities. Not when he still had to keep a low profile.

In spite of all of these misgivings, Eren couldn’t bring himself to regret bringing Levi home with him. Even if he was mysterious. And hadn’t offered Eren his last name. And was covered in fucking bruises. With a heavy sigh, Eren ran both of his hands over his face and through his hair. Nothing had happened, and yet Eren was already worried that this was going to collapse into an enormous mess that he had absolutely no control over. 

Eventually he decided that pacing up and down the bedroom hallway in his apartment was a pointless exercise, and that it probably wasn’t going to get the small man to wake up any faster. And so he made his way into the kitchen and prepared himself a bowl of cereal. As the dry Honey Nut Cheerios rattled dully into the bowl, he frowned ruefully, remembering the time when he’d had someone who could actually cook living with him. After he’d gotten his milk and spoon, he settled down at the table, by himself. It was completely covered in random objects that he’d never bothered to put in their proper places, and he had to clear a small space to put his bowl down. 

He had almost finished the bowl when the sound of footsteps from down the hall had him twisted around in his seat, gripping the back of his chair and staring fixedly at the door of the kitchen. Sure enough, Levi appeared--and he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose boxer shorts slung low on his hips. They were probably a little big for him, Eren thought. He might have been more interested in the dark, ugly bruises that stained Levi’s pale skin all over his upper body in addition to his neck and face if he wasn’t too busy being distracted by how attractive the other man was. Although he was diminutive in height and not especially muscular, his body was toned. His limbs were narrow and graceful, with muscles that were defined and present and yet not so large as to ruin the slender line of his figure. Eren swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat. 

“...Kid?” 

Eren snapped his focus up to Levi’s face, and was embarrassed to find that the other man was staring at him with raised eyebrows. “Sorry,” he said, feeling his face heating up.

“No, I’m sorry,” said Levi, sarcastically. “Clearly I’m interrupting something.”

Eren set his jaw and drew his eyebrows together. The guy didn’t have to be such a smartass. Eren had just saved his ass from a night of sleeping in his car with nowhere to go, after all. And he had been intending to continue saving him from having nowhere to go, too. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, speaking tensely through his locked jaw. “Can you do me a favor and repeat yourself?”

Levi stared at him for a few seconds, and the back of Eren’s neck began to prickle under his gaze. He got the impression that if Levi’s face was capable of portraying emotion, it would be displaying an expression of cold derision. Strictly speaking, he should be the one in power here. He should be the one dominating the conversation and calling the shots. Levi was the one who had stumbled into the diner at one in the morning with a face full of bruises and something to hide, not he. And yet here he was, intimidated into ashamed silence by the other man’s dark, narrow eyes. 

“I was just thanking you for allowing me to share your household with you for the evening,” said Levi. “Whose room is that? It’s obviously been lived in.” 

“My sister’s,” said Eren. “She lives with her girlfriend now, though, so that’s why it’s open for use.” He waited for the usual double take that people took and the uncomfortable expression of surprise and forced tolerance that appeared on people’s faces when he mentioned that his sister was a lesbian--and when he came out to others, for that matter--but it didn’t happen with Levi. He simply raised his eyebrows slightly, and Eren could have sworn that the corner of his mouth curled upwards just a little, even if it was only for half of a second. Suddenly, Eren felt a good deal safer with this man in his apartment, and a lot better about the way that his heart sped up when he gazed at Levi’s slenderly graceful body. 

“Well, that’s essentially all I have to say. Besides that it’s only good bye, I’m heading out, and is it alright if I use your bathroom to get cleaned up and shave?”

“W-Wait,” Eren said, standing up from his seat. “Where are you going?”

For the first time, Levi seemed caught off guard by Eren’s question. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, gritting his teeth. “That’s really none of your business.” 

“But it is,” countered Eren. He scrambled for something valid to follow up that statement with. “I’d like to know if I’ve just provided asylum for a dangerous criminal running from the law, thank you.” 

Levi burst out laughing. It was deep and mirthless. “I’m not a criminal, if that’s all you’re worried about.” Now it was Eren’s turn to open his mouth and then shut it and open again, completely without sound. He was out of ideas. For some reason, he desperately wanted Levi to stay, and he didn’t pause to think about the motivation for this desire or what the consequences of it might be. 

“Look,” he said. “It’s obvious that you have nowhere to go--” 

“I do have somewhere to go!” Levi snapped, his eyes flashing defensively. 

“Yeah? Where?” retorted Eren. 

“Like I said, it’s none of your business!” 

It was painfully obvious, Eren thought, that Levi was lying. He had behaved so stoically earlier, and the fact that he had been roused to such a state of anger by the simple accusations of having nowhere to go--and besides that, hadn’t offered any evidence to counter Eren’s accusations--seemed very suspicious. 

“If you have somewhere to go, why did you stay with me last night?” argued Eren. 

“Because...because it’s far away,” said Levi evasively, fidgeting as he spoke. “And I don’t know why I’m bothering to defend myself to you, I’ve already said that it’s none of your--” 

Eren slammed his fist on to the table. “Stop lying to me!” he shouted, frustratedly. When he looked back up at Levi, he was surprised to see that he had taken a few steps back, his hands held up near his face in a defensive position. His eyes were wide. It was almost like he thought that Eren was going to attack him. Eren blinked in confusion. He’d never gotten that kind of reaction out of a person before; usually, if he did things like that to demonstrate his anger, the person he was arguing with was mostly unaffected. 

“What?” he asked Levi. “Sorry if I scared you, I’m just...I get frustrated easily, all right?” 

Levi put his fists down, but Eren got the feeling that he hadn’t let his guard down, and he stayed where he had taken a few steps back rather than returning to the kitchen where Eren was. He stayed silent, so Eren began to speak again.

“I’m sorry I got angry,” he said, feeling guilty about the way Levi’s eyes had glazed over, like he had withdrawn into himself. “I’m just...worried, all right?” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know it’s stupid. But, shit, you walk into the diner covered in bruises like that and you expect me to just...let you go, with a clear conscience?” 

Levi stared at him for a few seconds, and then sighed, casting his eyes to the floor. “All right,” he said. “You’re right. I have nowhere to go. You, kid, were a god damn godsend.” Eren’s heart rate sped up. He was gratified that he had been right, but at the same time he was guilty for taking pleasure in another’s misfortune. “But I don’t know what you’re going for, here,” he continued. “You want me to stay with you, or something?”  
Eren nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I mean...at least until you, you know, figure out what’s going on, and what you’re doing.” 

Levi’s gaze suddenly shifted. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Eren through his eyelashes. A chill ran down Eren’s spine. That gaze could only be described as cold and calculating, and he fidgeted under this new form of Levi’s stare. “What’s in it for you?” said Levi. “Why would you want to do this for me?” Eren spent a few heartbeats thinking of a response. There was no way that he could tell Levi the truth, and he didn’t have time to think of a creative lie. 

“I need help with the rent,” he said, proud of how convincing his tone was and how realistic the lie seemed. “Ever since my sister moved out it’s been hard to make ends meet, especially since I have to pay off my student loans.” That wasn’t the case--Mikasa’s girlfriend, Annie, owned her apartment, and since it had been in her family for years, there was no mortgage for the other girl to worry about. Mikasa had been able to continue to support Eren’s rent with her own income. He wasn’t about to tell Levi that, though.

Levi smiled slightly. He seemed satisfied. Eren wondered why that was. How could it be that Eren supposedly having an ulterior motive made him more comfortable than simply offering his apartment to Levi out of pure goodness? Maybe, he thought, that made it easier for him to accept the kindness. He began to feel bad about lying, but then again, he didn’t even know what to call the truth. 

“I don’t have a job,” he told Eren. “I used to work, but I left all of my money behind with…” he trailed off. “Someone else.” 

“You could probably get one,” suggested Eren. He was curious about this “someone else” that Levi had left all of his money with, and why he had done it, but he avoided asking the question. “You could like…work as a barista or something.” He tilted his head to the side curiously. “How old are you?” 

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to ask about people’s ages?” said Levi, with a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’m twenty seven.” 

Eren bit back a smartass response, and also refrained from mentioning that he had only been asking because Levi looked so spectacularly young. Honestly, Eren thought, running his eyes over Levi’s body with sizing up his age as an excuse, the older man could have passed for as young as seventeen or eighteen. 

“I was only asking to get an idea of what kind of jobs you could find,” said Eren. “And I’m nineteen. There, we’re even.”

“Not really, because I’m still eight years your senior,” Levi pointed out. Eren rolled his eyes, waving his hands in a dismissive gesture.

“Whatever, whatever. That’s not important. The point is, I’ve got a friend who just got fired from his job as a bartender. You could take that position, while you…figure things out.” 

Levi jutted his chin forward. “That’s kind of rude, isn’t it? Snapping up someone’s job as soon as they’ve left it?” Eren suddenly grinned. He’d forgotten Levi didn’t know who he was talking about. 

“Don’t worry about it, Connie gets fired from things all the time,” he told Levi. “He’s pretty useful for finding the rest of us jobs, actually.”

Levi was silent, but Eren could tell that he was caving. He could see it in the way that the older man was avoiding his gaze, looking at the floor and chewing on his lower lip as he brooded in silence. Levi was quiet for a long, long time, however, far longer than Eren expected him to be. His assurance that the other man was going to say yes weakened, and then strengthened, and then weakened again. He wanted to break the silence, but he didn’t know how. Finally, after what seemed like years, Levi spoke. 

“All right,” he said, so quietly that Eren could hardly hear his words over the hum of the refrigerator. Eren opened his mouth to speak, but Levi cut him off. “But,” he said. “I have conditions. Actually, only one.” He straightened up, advancing further into the kitchen. He took the position that he had been standing in prior to when Eren had slammed his fist onto the counter. “No questions asked,” he said. “Nothing about me, or where I grew up, or why I’m alone, or where I came from, or what my job was, and most certainly not about this,” he said, indicating his face. Eren could only assume that he was talking about the bruises and his split lip. Eren felt a pang in his chest. He wanted to respect Levi’s desires, but as a naturally curious person, the idea of having an enigma that he could not explore living in his house was painfully frustrating. 

“How do I know you’re not connected to anything dangerous, then?” Eren hedged. Levi gave him an incredulous look. 

“Kid, you practically just begged me to stay with you,” said Levi. “Didn’t you take that risk into consideration?”

“No, not really,” said Eren, bluntly. Levi stared at him for a second, and then scoffed. 

“All right, then,” he said. “Like I said before, I’m not a criminal. I’m not associated with anything or anyone that’s...excessively dangerous.” 

“Excessively?” said Eren, raising an eyebrow. “Implying that you are associated with someone dangerous.” 

“Like I said, not excessively,” said Levi. “Nothing that I can’t deal with. Look, kid, do you want me to stay here or not? I’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m willing to clear out if you want me to.” 

“My name is Eren,” he said. “And…yes. Yes, I do want you to stay with me. I just don’t want to get hurt.” He wondered if Levi would pick up on the secondary meaning of his statement. He didn’t want to end up covered in bruises like Levi was, sure, but he also didn’t want to get hurt in different ways. In ways that would hurt his heart. He’d dealt with far too much of that already, and he wasn’t interested in facing any more. Levi tilted his chin upwards, meeting Eren’s eyes through the slant of his eyelashes. The glance seemed meaningful, and Eren could have sworn that he felt a spark of something in the air between them. 

“You won’t,” said Levi. “I’ll see to that.” 

“Okay,” said Eren, softly, after a moment of silence. Levi looked at him for a moment, and then smiled. It was vaguely frightening, Eren thought--the natural slant of his eyelids made it look devious and scheming, even if it was well intentioned. But Eren liked it. It was interesting, and, he admitted to himself, sexy. 

“Great,” Levi said. “You have yourself a deal, kid.” With that, he turned and began to make his way down the hall. 

“It’s Eren!” he shouted, after the shorter man. Levi’s back wasn’t as covered in bruises as his chest was, so he didn’t feel as bad about allowing his eyes to wander shamelessly across the subtle curvatures of his shoulders, spine, hips, and--oh god--his ass. 

“Whatever,” said Levi, grabbing on to the frame of a door and swinging around the corner. In spite of himself, Eren found a smile spreading across his face. This could be either the best or worst decision that he had ever made, and maybe--just maybe--it could turn out for the better.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Thank you for your patience, and I'm sorry that this chapter took me so long to write. I've been very busy with schoolwork. Luckily, I only have a little over a month left. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequency. Also, thank you again for your comments and kudos. You are all very kind, and I appreciate your support. 
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is from Eren's point of view again, and Armin and Mikasa are introduced as characters. If you have any questions or comments or critiques, feel free to leave a comment or to find me on tumblr at queermarcobodt (I changed my url). 
> 
> Enjoy!

Things went oddly well. Eren had expected Levi’s presence in his life to change things--to somehow upset or revolutionize the quiet rhythm of school, work, and a standard social life that his existence had become. But it didn’t, really. Levi was quiet. He didn’t take up much space. He minded his own business. When he walked by Mikasa’s old room, Eren had noticed that he hardly changed the place at all. After a week, Levi put his clothes into the dresser drawers, but that was the extent of what he did to make the room more his own rather than someone else’s that he was sleeping in. The walls remained blank and bare, with nothing to cover the dull white of the old paintjob. It was strikingly different than Eren’s room, with his walls that were covered in numerous band posters and photographs. 

Another thing that set he and Levi’s rooms apart was the stark difference in their organization. Eren’s room, like those of many young people his age, was incurably messy. He had long since given up on trying to organize his clothes properly in the closet; as a result, the closet was mayhem and a good third of his clothes were strewn across the floor, on his bed, on his desk, and any other conceivable surface. Levi’s, by comparison, was almost unrealistically neat. If he wasn’t wearing them, his clothes were always in either the laundry basket or folded neatly in the drawers of Mikasa’s old dresser, organized carefully by clothing type. While dust collected on Eren’s nightstand and on his window sill and on other surfaces that went for extended periods of time without touching, Levi’s room was perpetually free of even the slightest hint of dirt or dust. He admired the older man’s diligence, really. He wondered if that kind of attention to detail and desire for cleanliness would come to him with old age. Probably not, he decided. 

That was the only thing that the two of them had frequent disputes about--the cleanliness of their shared spaces. Although Levi was quiet about it at first, Eren could tell that the messiness of their shared spaces--their kitchen, living room, and bathroom--bothered Levi. He began to notice subtle differences in how things were “organized.” Parts of the chaos that was the kitchen table would be randomly sorted into neat piles when he entered the room for breakfast in the morning. At first, such occurrences didn’t bother Eren, but then he began to lose things because Levi had moved them from the place where he’d left them. 

“Why do you move my things?” Eren snapped, one morning, as Levi stood by the coffee maker waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. The older man looked over at him with an eyebrow arched. 

“Because I like organization,” he said, flatly, like it should have been obvious. His tone lacked any trace of apologeticness or explanation. He apparently thought those four simple words to be enough to explain everything and to calm Eren down. This was not the case. Eren raised both of his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, but it’s my stuff,” he pointed out, with a similarly unapologetic tone. 

They stared at each other in silence. It was clear to Eren that they had reached a stalemate. Neither was about to give up ground on their position. Finally, Eren shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. “Just tell me when you’re gonna move stuff, okay?” he said. Levi stared at him for a few more seconds, and then nodded, going back to making coffee.

A few other disputes of this nature arose between the two of them, but for the most part, they coexisted peacefully. Much to Eren’s disappointment, they didn’t end up spending a whole lot of time together. After the bruises faded from Levi’s face, he went to the bar that Eren had recommended he apply for a job at as a bartender. After he got the job, their routine settled in. Levi would spend the day at the apartment while Eren was at class--doing what, he didn’t know--and when Eren was home in the evening, Levi would go out to work. The only upside to this system was the few minutes that he did get to see Levi, just after he got home and just before Levi went to work. During this time they would usually exchange casual greetings, but more importantly, Eren would get to see him in his work clothes: slim fitting black pants and a white button down shirt with a black bow tie. The clothing sat on his frame in a perfect mixture of clinging to it and hanging off of it, and it made him look absolutely gorgeous. More than once, Eren found himself daydreaming about it in the middle of class. Much to his personal shame, he also thought of it--in his defense, only once--while jerking off. 

Sometimes, Eren thought that he was in deep shit and that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of it. He was quickly falling head over heels for the man that he was housing in his apartment. He didn’t even know if Levi was going to stay with him for a long period of time. Hell, he didn’t even know if Levi’s sexuality allowed for interest in him. In any case, it seemed extremely unlikely that an attractive twenty-seven year old like himself would be caught dead with a sophomore in college like Eren. 

Still, there were things that gave him a small semblance of hope. As the weeks went on, sometimes, he and Levi would eat dinner together when they had time to spare. It turned out that Levi was in fact an excellent cook, and Eren found that if he cleaned up the kitchen by himself, the older man would be willing to make dinner for the two of them. True to his word, but with great difficulty, Eren avoided asking him questions about his past and where he had come from. If he wasn’t so afraid of alienating Levi, his curiosity might have overcome him. But as it was, he swallowed his curiosity and tried to limit himself to small talk. They mostly discussed their everyday matters, such as work and school. Eren told him about what he was studying in class, and Levi told him about interesting customers that they got at the bar and about interesting events that took place there. One evening, Levi had him gasping with laughter at his dry, sarcastic retelling of one particularly wasted man that had called his ex-girlfriend to tell her that she was the love of his life only to discover that he had called his mother instead. 

“I’ve never seen someone look so mortified,” said Levi. “His face looked something like this,” he continued, turning to Eren with an expression of utter horror and embarrassment. The exaggerated expression looked so completely out of place on the other man’s face that Eren began to laugh even harder than he already had been, throwing his head back and howling into the ceiling. When he finally recovered, looking back down and brushing tears from his eyes, he could have sworn that he saw the ghost of a smile on Levi’s face. But when he finished wiping the tears from his eyes, it was gone. 

One evening, about two months after Levi had moved in with him, the two of them happened to have a coinciding night off. Once they had figured this out, Eren decided that he was going to introduce Levi to Mikasa and Armin. He didn’t tell Levi that he was inviting his best friend and his sister over for the specific purpose of meeting him, he simply told him that he was having a few friends over. Levi shrugged. “All right,” he said. “I’ll get out of your way when they’re over.” 

Later that night, Eren left the kitchen and walked into the living room to find Levi sitting on the couch, watching television. He was wearing black khaki pants and an oversized pale green sweater, which slipped off of one of his shoulders and down over his fingers. His knees were tucked up to his chest. In that moment, in spite of his age and enigmatic aura and maturity and attractiveness, Eren was struck by how childlike Levi seemed. 

A few seconds later, Eren realized that he was staring. Not wanting to get caught in the act again--Levi had looked over to see him staring a few too many times--he broke his gaze and walked over to sit down next to the other man on the couch. 

“What are you watching?” he asked, acutely aware that a distance of only about a foot separated them on the couch. Levi glanced over at him, and then looked back at the television. 

“Breaking Bad,” he replied. “I used to watch it frequently, but I haven’t had the time lately.” 

“Hmm.” Eren focused his own attention on to the T.V. Right now, the shot depicted a bald man with a thick brown moustache and glasses talking to a significantly younger man with close-cropped, dark hair. “What’s it about?” he asked, after a few minutes. 

“A high school chemistry teacher that begins selling meth as a way to pay for his cancer treatments,” said Levi, his tone completely flat. Eren’s eyes widened and he looked over at Levi with raised eyebrows. 

“Oh,” he said, shock clearly present in his voice. As he continued to look at the other man, Levi smirked, still staring at the television. After a few seconds, Eren smiled, giving Levi a playful shove on the shoulder. “You like saying things like that, don’t you? Just to freak me--people out?” 

Levi’s grin grew wider, in spite of the fact that he was obviously trying to stop it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. 

“Yes you do,” insisted Eren, beginning to laugh slightly as he spoke. Levi pursed his lips around his smile and wrapped his arms around himself, shaking his head in silence. 

“Come on. Why don’t you--” 

His question was cut off by the sound of a knock on the door. “Must be your friends,” said Levi, looking up. His smile faded, and his face returned to its usual expression of neutrality verging on boredom. He stood up and picked up the remote to turn off the television. “I’ll just head to my room and leave you kids alone, then,” he murmured, more to himself, it seemed, than Eren. 

“Wait,” said Eren, as Levi passed him by. When the other man didn’t stop, Eren reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. 

He had never seen somebody react so quickly to anything in his life. Spinning around, he jerked his arm roughly within Eren’s grasp and swung his foot upward to brace it against Eren’s stomach, so that his heel was hovering just over Eren’s crotch. For a terrifying couple of seconds, Eren really thought that Levi was going to kick him in the balls. Part of him wanted to yell at Levi for scaring him like that, but a greater part of him was too stunned to speak. 

“If you like your balls they way they are, let me go,” Levi said. Eren didn’t hesitate to let go of the smaller man’s wrist. Once he had, Levi removed his foot from Eren’s stomach and took a few steps away, turning his back on Eren. 

Eren looked at him with concern. There were so many questions that he had and so many things that he wanted to say, but the knowledge that Mikasa and Armin were waiting outside the front door and his original intention in grabbing Levi’s wrist pressed at the front of his mind. “I just wanted you to meet my friends, that’s all,” he said, softly, walking over to the door to their apartment and putting his hand on the knob. After a few seconds, Levi turned around to look at him. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but Eren could have sworn that he saw a hint of regret in his eyes. The other man didn’t say anything, but he didn’t walk away, either, so Eren opened the door on a disgruntled Armin and Mikasa. 

“Took you long enough,” said Armin, giving Eren an annoyed expression. Or at least, he tried. He didn’t look very annoyed, Eren thought. But then again, it was probably hard to look annoyed when you were as angelic as Armin. 

“Sorry, we were just watching TV,” said Eren, as his friends entered the apartment like they owned the place. 

“We?” said Mikasa, looking at Eren in confusion. After a moment, she seemed to see Levi out of the corner of her eye, and the uncertainty cleared out of her face. “Oh, right, your new roommate,” she said. Rather than approaching him and introducing herself, she kept her distance from him, sizing the smaller man up. Armin looked between the three of them nervously, unsure of what to do. Eren cleared his throat. 

“Ah, Armin, Mikasa, this is Levi, my roommate,” he said. “Levi, this is my sister, Mikasa, and my best friend, Armin.” 

There were a few seconds of tense silence in which none of them made any movements. Finally, Armin took a step forward and offered his hand for Levi to shake. To Eren’s relief, his roommate took it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Armin, giving Levi his sunniest smile. Levi gave Armin half of a smile in return. 

“Same to you,” he replied. When Armin let go, Eren dug his elbow into Mikasa’s side. She approached Levi and held out her hand to him, which he took. 

“Nice to meet you,” she said, not nearly as warmly as Armin had. He simply nodded in return. 

Once the introductions were over with, Levi turned away and walked down the hall, turning the corner to go into his room and close the door. Eren stared after him for a few seconds, then turned to look back at Armin and Mikasa. 

“Well, he’s certainly a ray of sunshine,” said Mikasa, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Eren rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, and so are you,” he sniped back at her. “Besides, he actually is pretty funny once you get to know him.” 

Armin, meanwhile, was gazing at Eren with his large blue eyes narrowed to slits. Eren groaned audibly. He knew that expression very well. Armin was making connections, and was about to say something out loud that Eren might not even have admitted to himself yet. His best friend was always doing that kind of thing. He really liked Armin, but his best friend could be annoyingly perceptive. That was why, when they had tried to date, their relationship had gone nowhere fast. He didn’t know how Jean did it, really. 

“You like him, don’t you?” 

There it was.

Eren groaned, bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing his eyes. “Is it really that obvious?” he asked. True, he spent the majority of his free time nowadays thinking what it would be like to get into his mysterious roommate’s pants, but he’d thought he was being pretty good about hiding it. And yet, Armin had just walked into his apartment and guessed within five minutes of being there. 

“Yes,” Mikasa replied, to his dismay. 

“Oh my god,” he said, moving his hands away from his eyes to grip at the roots of his hair. He turned to look at Armin and Mikasa with wide, concerned eyes. 

“Do you think he knows?” he asked them. 

They both shrugged. Eren groaned in frustration.

“Listen, Eren,” said Mikasa. “Be careful, all right? You know nothing about him, and you have no idea who he really is. Don’t do anything that you’ll regret. And how old is he, anyways?” 

Eren looked at her with his eyebrows drawn together. “He’s twenty seven. And he said he’s not a criminal,” he said, defensively. He could hear the childish tone in his own voice, but he didn’t care. Things were often this way between he and his sister. 

“Yeah, and he could have lied,” she said, harshly. “A person who’s eight years older than you who you hardly even know?” She shook her head. “All I’m asking you to do is be careful, all right?”

Eren glared at his sister, his teeth clenched. Red hot anger coursed through his veins. How could she say this to him? How could she be so unsupportive of who he liked? A few years ago, when they had both been in high school, he might have shouted at her. But now he was older, and he was getting tired of being the one that always lost their temper. So he forced himself to calm down and think. Mikasa meant well. She was only trying to protect him. And she did have a point. He hardly knew who Levi was. 

“All right,” he said, eventually, looking away. “I’ll be careful, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. Her dark brown eyes seemed to gain an entirely new layer of life and shine when she smiled at him. “Thank you, Eren.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving her off. 

“Want to watch a movie?” suggested Armin. 

“Yeah,” said Eren. “Let’s watch Breaker Morant.” 

“No, we watched that last time,” argued Armin, as they made their way towards the couch. “I want to watch Cabaret.” 

That night, while the three of them watched Cabaret together, Eren was able to momentarily forget the worries he had that were centered around the diminutive, mysterious man that was sleeping only a few rooms away.


End file.
